Book Arsenal 2026 will start in Kyiv on May 28. The focus theme of this year’s festival is the idea of “Carrying Your Freedom”

Today, Book Arsenal has long gone beyond the usual “book festival”. It is a large-scale cultural space that combines literature, public discussions, lectures and public conversations about freedom, war, memory, culture and the future of Ukraine.

As part of the literary guide “On Freedom: Books, People, Meanings”, participants will have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with books and festival events dedicated to the theme of freedom as a personal and social value. Special attention will be paid to meetings with writers, presentations of new publications and discussions of the role of literature in the modern world.

One of the central events of the festival will be the public conversation “Freedom as a Path” with the participation of Maksym Butkevych. The discussion will focus on the issues of human dignity, responsibility, the power of speech and the meaning of freedom in times of war.

The literary guide is designed not only to introduce students to the Book Arsenal program, but also to show that books today are a space for dialogue, understanding of experience and searching for meanings.

The moderator of the event is Iryna Filon, head of the library service department of the BSPU for the university. The event will be a great opportunity for student youth to join the modern cultural process and feel the power of Ukrainian books and public conversation.

Pugach Alina,
a higher education student in the specialty
061 Journalism